USA > Wisconsin > Jefferson County > Lake Mills > A reminiscent history of the village and town of Lake Mills, Jefferson County : embraced in a period of ten years, from 1837 to 1847, and while Wisconsin was a territory > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The male teachers employed by the district for the winter school in the old and new schoolhouse were Albert Birdsall, H. W. Barnes, J. F. Johnson and Mr. Goodrich, who formerly taught in Aztalan, S. A. Roys, P. B. Pease, and one other whose name I cannot recall. The old schoolhouse stood on Madison St., second building from the corner of Main, northwest. I think the main body of the building is in existence yet, having formed intimate relations with a more modern structure. At that time it was a building of great general interest. The rear end of the building contained a board shelf standing ont from the wall at a proper slope, and in front were benches made of slabs resting upon posts fastened into large auger holes. Toward the front there were several rows of these kind of seats. each about twelve feet long. The style of these desks and benches was not very attractive. nevertheless they served their purpose well. This old schoolhouse was used for church pur- poses until the new brick schoolhouse was completed in 1845. I think the first school was held in this schoolhouse in the sum- mer of 1839.
The settlers of Lake Mills were men of high character, honest and moral men, and while there were no churches, no conven-
25
iences for the people to gather together and listen to the word of God, still there was a strong feeling on the sub- ject, and whenever a volunteer preacher was to be had a notice was given of a meeting on some Sunday, and the people would gather there to worship in an earnest manner. Services were held and sermons preached to the people by itin- erant preachers long before there was any church organization in the village. I cannot forbear to mention that class of noble men who followed the pioneers soon after their first settlement in Lake Mills and Jefferson county. I have reference to that class of men known as the Methodist circuit riders. Where they came from one hardly knew, but they were earnest men of God determined to carry the gospel into the wilderness, and our log house was hardly ready for occupancy before one of them appeared at our door asking shelter and the privilege to hold services therein, which was granted. I remember one, Elder Halstead by name, who came there tired and hungry ask- ing for something to eat. My mother had nothing in the house but enough buckwheat flour to make one batch of cakes, which she prepared for him and which he ate. I shall never cease to have respect for that class of men, and shall always cherish their memory.
Methodist meetings were frequently held in our log house, and in due time a Methodist Church society was organized. The Methodists were the first denomination who received recog- nition on the part of the settlers, and it was quite a while be- fore any other society put in an appearance. The Methodist minister of those early days went at his work in a direct and forcible way. He struck from the shoulder. He preached the gospel and that alone. There were no side issues. The Bible was his text book, his guide and his friend.
The Rev. Washington Philo, an Episcopalian missionary sta- tioned at Madison, used to come frequently to Lake Mills, and hold services on a Sunday in our log house. He was a kindly man, and was fully impressed with the idea that he was ac- complishing very much in the service of his Master. On one occasion when he was making a trip from Madison to this place he met with a serious mishap. In passing over the corduroy road this side of Deerfield. he got off of his horse to walk. The horse passed along quietly at first, but being a little
!
26
thirsty and seeing water in the marsh at the end of the logs, proposed to have a drink, and the result was that in a few mo- ments he was inextricably caught in the mire past all help of being gotten ont by the Elder. The reverend gentleman footed it to Lake Mills, and in the middle of the night our fam- ily was aroused by the loud halloo of some one in trouble. It was quickly responded to by my father and the mill hands. When it was learned that the horse of the Elder was mired in the marsh, a party was made up and proceeded to the scene of the mishap, and speedily succeeded in pulling the hourse out upon the corduroy and leading him into more comfortable quar- ters. The Elder recovered from his accident none the worse for it and held services as usual. On one occasion when he arrived at our house, my father and mother were absent. We gathered around the supper table, but no one of the party seemed to un- derstand the proprieties of the situation to the extent of ask- ing the Elder to pronounce a blessing, so the Elder thought he would do it on his own account. He had just raised his hands and dropped his head to proceed when Mr. Byington, one of our boarders, unwittingly passed him the plate of bread. The Elder was equal to the emergency. He opened his eyes, threw back his head, dropped his hand upon a slice of bread, and the invocation contemplated was lost to the party assembled at the supper table.
There was another itinerant who preached very frequently in the old schoolhouse prior to '43, and that was the Rev. E. Slingerland of Sun Prairie of the Dutch Reform Church. He was a very interesting man in conversation and a very good preacher, and we all liked him exceedingly and encouraged his coming although he was a masterful eater. and diminished our supply of catables in a manner very satisfactory to himself.
Another, a Baptist minister by the name of Matthews, was an early pioneer in the cause at this period of time, and made frequent trips through this section of the country, stopping at our house. He was not popular. He was called a "crank" or rather a fanatic as, I think. at that early time the word "crank" had not been coined for general use. He was a great anti- slavery agitator, and the majority of the people being against the agitation of the slavery question at that time, he was looked upon with disfavor, and frequently had to run the gauntlet of
-
27
rotten eggs, but he was an earnest and sincere man, an English- man by birth, and was entitled to receive better treatment than was often times dealt out to him.
As I said all the ministers put up at our house, so it became my duty to take care of their horses, and it seemed rather hard when the oats were scarce and high that they should be con- sumed by the horses of these travelers, and I must confess that sometimes I got out of all patience with the business. But generally we were honest with the minister and his horse. He paid nothing for his own fare, and never anything for the horse, not even a shilling to the hostler. I remember one in- stance when a minister stopped at our house, and I put his old white horse in the barn and gave him some hay. The horse was poor, tired and hungry and, really, he excited my pity. Marsh hay had not proved very nonrishing to the animal, and I really felt moved to give the old creature a full measure of oats. To that end I talked the matter over with my bother Abe. We looked at the horse, considered the matter, and finally decided that as a matter of Christian duty a peek of oats should go into the manger and into the horse, and it went. I have heard a good deal about casting bread upon the waters and that it would return after many days, but I really do not now remember whether Abe and I ever got our credit for that peck of oats, but it is probable we have although we have no special record of it.
There was a desire on the part of all to improve the church music, and, therefore, after a while a singing school was organ- ized. taught by Dr. Merriman, and all the young of both sexes were quite prompt in their attendance, and manifested a great deal of interest in the instruction. At that time the Metho- dists-held meetings in the schoolhouse in the afternoon and the Congregationalists in the forenoon, and one choir sang for both. P. B. Pease was the leader. On one occasion Rev. Mr. Seward, the Congregational minister, gave out the hymn and the choir sang it well, as they thought, putting into its rendition. all the unction they possessed. When the reverend gentleman gave out the second hymn during the services, he remarked to the choir, "If you cannot sing this better than you did the first one, you had better not sing it at all." Of course the choir thus sat down upon by the reverend gentleman went into a state of
28
collapse. I presume there are a number here in Lake Mills who still remember Mr. Seward and his peculiarities; that he wanted everything done in his own way and no diversions. While hardly knowing one tune from another, he claimed to be a musical critic.
The Rev. O. P. Clinton, Congregational minister and mission- ary, preached in Aztalan and Lake Mills from '43 to '46. He was succeeded by the Rev. E. D. Seward in April, 1846, with the church organization dating in the following year. The Methodist ministers and circuit riders were the first ones to put in an appearance in the village, which continued to grow and prosper from the time the first sermon was preached.
The utmost friendliness and good feeling prevailed among all the (?) early settlers. Any note of trouble, any sound of alarm, any call for assistance, no matter what it might be was responded to with alacrity. The settler was ready any mo- ment to divide with his neighbor his last pound of flour and his last piece of pork. If there was any sickness in the neighbor- hood, every possible assistance was rendered by all. It has al- ways seemed to me that there was more Christian charity man- ifested toward all in those early days than has appeared at any time since. Social gatherings of the settlers in the log cabins were very frequent, and the women visited back and forth with one another at regular intervals. The same kindly feeling was seen in the intercourse of the younger people of the families -- the boys and girls-and as soon as civilization, so to speak, had advanced far enough, a regular ball was announced to come off at the Lake Mills House in this village. Cards of invitation were issued. While rather young I was invited, and my mother insisted that I was big enough to go, and that I should invite a girl and take my place in line with those who were older. As I remember I was a timid lad, and it required a good deal of courage to (what seemed to me at that time a terrible ordeal) invite a girl to go to the ball with me, but with the help of my good mother it was made easy. I consulted her and was gov- erned by her advice. I said to her I should like to invite Olive Pickett, if she thought she would not give me the mitten. She replied that that was just the thing for me to to. so I kind of gently consulted Olive on the subject, but she replied that my brother Abe had already spoken to her about the matter. I at
29
once reported this condition of things to my mother, and she at once flared up indignantly and said Abe should do no such thing, and thereupon she "knocked him out in the first round," and Olive was duly booked to be my partner at the ball. The tickets required us to put in an appearance at the Lake Mills House at two o'clock in the afternoon. So I started out early after dinner with the best horse and buggy I could procure, visited. the Pickett family around the lake about three miles away, secured my partner and reached the Lake Mills House at three o'clock, the first one on the job. I managed to get through the exercises of the evening without any discredit to myself, and was most successfully sustained in so doing by the beautiful, black-eyed, little girl who was my partner. Ladies and gentlemen, I have the pleasure of introducing her to you at this time, and which I now do-Mrs. Olive Pickett Wood.
To facilitate traveling when on visiting excursions, my mother and her friends rode in an ox cart, which was a vehicle with wheels sawed from the end of a large oaken log with the box set upon the axle between the wheels, and a long pole to which the yoked oxen were hitched. This was considered to be a first class conveyance, and I was the driver and conductor on many a joyful occasion as the more distant families were visited, and when we came to a smooth stretch of road our oxen would trot as quickly and as easily as a fancy pair of roadsters today. I felt proud of my position as driver of that ox cart.
Those of the settlers who became domiciled in the fall of 1837 were prepared in the spring of 1838 to spade or break up a patch of ground, and to plant potatoes and other vegetables to a small extent. The product, though meager, was of great assistance.
At first there was very little sickness, but as the land became broken and otherwise improved, fevers, particularly ague and fever, prevailed very generally, and I presume there is not an old settler living in Jefferson county who has not had some ter- rible experience with the "shakes" which he will never forget. The change from the east to the west was a striking one in many respects. The climate was different; the water and food also were different. I remember there was one trouble from which nearly all the old settlers suffered, and which was at-
30
tributed to a variety of causes. It was a disease that was never known to prove fatal, though it was very annoying and frequently productive of a good deal of profanity, but it had to be endured as patiently as possible, for there were no means discovered to cure it. It really had to wear itself out. I allude to that old affliction which the settlers cannot certainly have forgotten known as "prairie itch." It was very amusing at times to see a whole family out around a log house, leaning against the butt ends of the logs scratching first one shoulder and then the other, touching points that could not be easily reached with the hands. One of the mills hands, whom we had at work for us, was afflicted with this disease most savagely. He said he never was so happy and felt so well in his life as he did when he stood before a rousing fire at night-time, and could scratch at his leisure without let or hindrance.
In those early days dogs were reasonably plenty and cats cor- respondingly scarce. Our old dog was named "Watch" and her best point was to sound the alarm by a vigorous bark whenever any one approached the place in night or day, and it was the practice when the dog barked for every one to run to the door to see who was coming. Watch was a great enemy of the In- dians, and frequently had to be chained up to prevent her at- tacking every one in sight.
A good cat was worth a five dollar bill. It is true that there were not many mice in the country at that time, perhaps none except a few who had found a quiet corner in some box of goods, and thus been brought to the west. Still the women could not be perfectly happy unless they had a cat. I remem- ber the great interest that centered around the first one we possessed, which was a beautiful animal, and there was great strife between the members of the household to see who should have the cat for a sleeping companion. In the cold weather the fur of the cat was very comfortable.
1
In the winter of '37-38. a young topographical engineer, who surveyed and superintended the construction of the road from Madison to Milwaukee by way of Lake Mills, was a member of our family, and while there spent a good deal of his time in making maps of his surveys of the road. He became very much attached to this cat, and he would catch it in his arms in the early evening and go up the ladder to bed among the first, so
31
he could monopolize the cat. This man afterwards, as the years rolled on, became well known throughout the country. He was a general in the army of the Union during the war of the Rebellion, and afterwards a prominent federal officer in Chicago. I allude to the late Gen. J. D. Webster.
The first celebration of our national anniversary in Lake Mills and Jefferson county, was on the Fourth day of July A. D. 1839. It was held in the grove, a little west and south of our log house, on the ground now occupied by Haskin's Hotel. This event occurred fifty-five years ago the coming Fourth of July. It seems a long time, and it is, and though then a boy of not many years, the events of that day are as indelibly traced upon the tablets of my memory as though they occurred but yesterday. The old pioneers with their families assembled from miles around. The bright sun shone upon them in un- clouded splendor, and the smiles of Heaven welcomed them. With hearts full of gratitude to God, they entered upon the duties of that day. Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, gathered in from that stretch of beautiful land between this lake set here in the gentle hills and the Crawfish river, a few miles away. They came from their log cabins, sparsely dotting the rich landscape of those earlier years. They came, some in wagons and some in carts drawn by faithful oxen, and some on foot. The lad and the lassie could have been seen emerging from the bright green foliage of the oaks, the sunbeams dancing in their pathway, both riding upon the same horse. From out of the wilds they came, following the footprints of the wild deer, and the trails of the Indian hunters.
What grand inspiration moved with one accord those few settlers of that year long ago! It was high and holy patriot- ism. love of country, a desire to do honor to the Nation's birth- day in a manner befiting their means and number. They were noble types of American citizenship. From their homes in old New England and the east, they had brought with them the principles of undying liberty. Their mission was to found an empire in the rich places of the distant west to be forever consecrated to freedom. There was no ringing of bells, no strains of soul-stirring music to enliven that seene, but yet, many of the formalities of later years were carefully observed. There was an invocation to the Most High by the chaplain, the
.
32
reading of the Declaration of Independence, the delivery of the oration, the march and procession, and last, thought not least, the dinner in the grove beneath the overhanging branches of the trees.
The officers of the day were as follows: President, Capt. Joseph Keyes; Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Pillsbury; Reader of the Declaration, Nathaniel F. Hyer; Orator, J. F. Ostrander; Com- mittee of Arrangements, Capt. Joseph Keyes, James Payne and John Starkweather; Committee of Ordinance, Nelson P. Hawks; on Music, James Babcock and James Williams.
Among those I remember to haveb een present with their fami- lies were: George Hebard, James Manville, James Payne, David ยท Hyer, B. Ingraham, H. L. Foster, Thos. Brayton, Benjamin Nute, George Lamphere, Reuben Keene, Silas Styles, Walter S. Hyer, Hugh Briggs, Jno. Atwood, E. L. Atwood, Capt. Robert Masters, Royal Tyler, R. M. Nevins, J. F. Ostrander, Capt. Joseph Keyes, George Farmer, Nelson P. Hawks. There were present also: J. D. Waterbury and sister, Mrs. Babcock. Charles Brayton, Louise Brayton and Antoinette Brayton (chil- dren of Jeremiah L. Brayton), two Misses Landtz, Harvey Foster, Volney Foster, Hopstil Foster, Mrs. Zilpah Brown, Miss Nancy Atwood and sister, Theron Plumb, Samuel Hosley, Stephen Hawks, George Hyer, William Brayton. James Bray- ton, Alfred Brayton, George Hayden, James Babcock, Jno. Starkweather, James Williams, N. F. Hyer.
The music of the occasion was a fife and a fiddle, which led the procession in its line of march. Mr. James Williams piped the shrill notes of the fife, and Mr. James Babcock manipulated the fiddle to the satisfaction of all. The gun used for the salutes was an anvil from the shop, and it performed most ex- cellent work. The dinner table was laden with the best the neighborhood afforded, the contributions of those who sat down to it. At one end was a roast pig, with head and tail ereet; at the other end a large piece of a similar animal, but of maturer age. A sprinkling of "green sass," and various other et ceteras filled up the intervening space. No ardent spirits were used or needed to awaken enthusiasm; a few lemons had been pro- vided for the after dinner exercises of the toasts, but when sought for they were found to have mysteriously disappeared, having been stolen and sucked dry by a lawless fellow, who was
33
in the employ of Royal Tyler. Perhaps I ought to say in ex. tenuation of his offense, that he divided a few of them with the boys. The banner of freedom, emblem of our liberties, which gayly floated over them on that memorable day, was, unlike the star spangled banner, immortalized by the poet Key. It was improvised out of a red shawl with blue stripes, and with a red cotton handkerchief figured with white stars, pinned on one corner. The shawl was furnished by a good mother present, and the cotton wipe was ransacked from a coat pocket in the crowd. This poor substitute for a national flag was raised upon a tamarack pole, from the top of which it gloriously waved all day. At its close it had to be cut' down to restore to the owners the handkerchief and the shawl.
The table was spread, and the exerises of the day were held on the ridge south of the old mill, a little south and west of my father's log house, which stood upon the present site of Miles Millard's former residence. There were no other buildings here except the saw mill, which was about that time completed.
Two of the carly settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Brayton, failed to grace the festivities of the occasion with their pres- ence, and for what seemed to them a good reason. It was rumored, yet untruly, that Mr. James Payne, one of the commit- tee of arrangements, had procured from Milwaukee some brandy to be drank at the celebration. The strong temperance principles of the good deacon and his plucky wife could not countenance such a proceeding, and so they stayed home. I doubt not that in later years they felt proud of the position they assumed in favor of total abstinence.
There was one incident of the day in which I was personally concerned. I was not expected to take a very important part in the exercises, and I was considered too young to march in the procession with a girl, and not old enough to eat at the first table; but as the sequel proved. and unexpectedly to myself. I did both. With the other lads I was marching the line of march, outside of and independent of its regularity: at this mo- ment. a critical one to me, one of the committee of arrange- ments, a stalwart bachelor, who had upon his arm a beautiful young lady, with a younger sister tugging at his disengaged hand, in a tone of authority called me to him. Innocent of sur- prise or sudden ambush, and expecting only some trivial com-
34
mand, I obeyed the summons. His fingers clutched my arm. and in the twinkling of an eye I was formed into the line with the little trembling miss, not too young to blush, as a clinging attachment. The jeers and laughter of my playmates at my sudden transposition from a. boy sovereign on the Fourth to such dignified associations seem to be ringing in my ears today. The column soon halted at the refreshment table, and I was seated with the rest awaiting results with many apprehensions. Soon I espied my good mother examining the table arranging to place some extra seats. If I was discovered I feared an ex- plosion that boded me no good. I shrank into as small space as I possibly could, but there was no escape; the firmness of her presence was overwhelming; her large, blue eye was set search- ingly upon me. Although there by compulsion, still I felt guilty of violating the proprieties of the occasion by my pres- ence. With outstretched arm and finger pointed full upon me, my mother exclaimed, "Elisha, what are you doing there? Get right up and out as soon as you can." I was preparing to "get" when the author of my embarrassment came to the rescue by calling the attention of my indignant mother to the timid maiden by my side. With quick wit she took in the suituation and retiring in good order, she said, "If that don't beat all; who would have thought it!"
The little lady who was my companion on that not unevent- ful day was Miss Antoinette Brayton, youngest daughter of the late Jeremiah L. Brayton, then residing upon the river bank, not far below Aztalan. Afterwards, as the years rolled on, she grew into a beautiful woman and became the esteemed wife of one of Wisconsin's earliest pioneers, Hon. I. W. Bird of Jefferson, but now, with many of her early associates she shops the sleep that knows no waking.
. This celebration of the anniversary of our national independ. ence was, I think, the first ever held in the present limits of Juf. ferson county, and was, therefore, a notable occasion. There was a very general turnout of the settlers easterly from this place, including the present towns of Milford, Aztalan and Jef- ferson, there being no settlement west of here. Still there were less than a hundred present, all told, men, woman and children.
In Lake Mills and also in other places in Jefferson county, there were organizations of the settlers into clubs for the pur-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.